Sharks’ Joe Thornton registers 1,300th NHL point

Joe Thornton recorded his 1,300th career NHL point Tuesday night, assisting on Joe Pavelski’s power play goal with 4:32 left in the second period in the Sharks’ game against the Colorado Avalanche at SAP Center.

With the Sharks enjoying a two-man advantage, Thornton fed a pass across the front of the Avalanche net to Pavelski, who scored his team-leading 25th goal of the season. Thornton received an ovation and blew a kiss to the crowd as he was shown on the JumboTron at one of the next stoppages in play.

Thornton picked up his first point Tuesday on a goal by Tomas Hertl with 9:47 left in the first period.

For his 17-plus year NHL career, Thornton now has 367 goals and 933 assists. In 47 career games against the Avalanche, Thornton has 56 points. Thornton is one of only 33 players in NHL history to register 1,300 points.

On the Hertl goal, Pavelski started the play as he intercepted a pass near the Avalanche blue line. The puck found its way to Thornton, who fed Marc-Edouard Vlasic for a shot toward Colorado goalie Calvin Pickard. Hertl picked up the loose puck near the goal and scored his fourth in six games and his 10th of the season to give the Sharks a 2-0 lead.

Melker Karlsson scored 6:19 into the first period, as a point shot from Brent Burns went off Karlsson’s body and past Pickard for a 1-0 Sharks lead.

Coming into Tuesday, Thornton had 844 points in 800 career games with the Sharks, which included 39 points in the first 47 games this season. He entered the game on a nine-game point streak, with two goals and 10 assists in that span.

Thornton, the No. 1 overall draft pick by Boston in 1997, just ahead of Patrick Marleau, had his first career point on Dec. 3, 1997, a goal for the Bruins in a 3-0 win over Philadelphia.

The Sharks led the Avalanche 4-0 at the end of the second period. San Jose entered Tuesday on a nine-game point streak (7-0-2).